BJP stalwart Sushma Swaraj passes away at 67 after heart attack

News Network
August 6, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 6: Former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack in New Delhi. She was rushed to the Emergency at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was administered but doctors were unable to revive her, said hospital officials.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid rich tributes to Ms. Swaraj, saying: “A glorious chapter in Indian politics comes to an end. India grieves the demise of a remarkable leader who devoted her life to public service and bettering lives of the poor. Sushma Swaraj Ji was one of her kind, who was a source of inspiration for crores of people.”

Ms. Swaraj, 67, had a long career in politics known for her skilled oratory and had been, at 25 years, the youngest-ever Cabinet Minister in the Haryana government led by the late Devi Lal. A lawyer by training, Ms. Swaraj was part of the legal team put together by the Opposition when socialist leader George Fernandes was arrested around the Emergency. Since she and Swaraj Kaushal, who was also involved with the Socialists, were part of the legal team and had to travel to Mumbai together, their law professor and later Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand suggested that they get married, a story later recounted by her with much relish.

While she has been considered a late comer to the BJP, having started out in the socialist ranks, but she held the confidence of top leaders and was chosen by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to take on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999. While she lost that election, she won hearts, narrowed the victory margin of the Congress and provided a foothold to the BJP in that area.

She was variously Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs and Health Minister in the Vajpayee government and also served as Delhi Chief Minister in 1998, a position she lost to Sheila Dikshit who also passed away recently.

Ms. Swaraj and Ms. Gandhi tangled again in 2004, after the UPA came to power with the former threatening to shave her head and live on berries if the latter became Prime Minister. As Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha between 2009 and 14, however, the two did repair their relationship.

The late leader was seen as part of the old guard of the BJP but fit in well as a responsive Minister for External Affairs on social media who nevertheless ceded the limelight to Prime Minister Modi in foreign policy.

Ill health (she had a kidney transplant a couple of years ago) made her opt out of electoral politics, and later also from the new Cabinet formed by Mr. Modi in his second term.

Her death has brought to a close an important chapter in Indian politics.

Comments

Mr Frank
 - 
Thursday, 8 Aug 2019

When some one die if people say good about her or him they are really good people and good in human gesture Sushmaji among one of them.

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News Network
March 16,2020

Madikeri, Mar 16: Three suspected cases of COVID-19, who returned from a foreign country recently have been admitted to the isolation ward of the district hospital here, the district administration said on Monday.

The samples of the suspected cases have been sent for lab tests and the reports are being awaited, sources said.

As many as 74 people have been placed under home quarantine in Kodagu (also known as Coorg) as a precautionary measure following their return from abroad, a press note from the Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy said.

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News Network
August 2,2020

Chitradurga,  Aug 2: Said to be 110-years-old, a grand old woman Siddamma was discharged on Saturday from a COVID Hospital in Chitradurga after recovering from the novel coronavirus.

According to Dr Basavaraj, District Surgeon, Chitradurga, the woman had tested positive for the disease on July 27.

After her recovery, the frail woman dressed in a sari was seen being wheeled out from the hospital.

As many as 5,172 new COVID-19 cases and 98 deaths were reported in Karnataka on Saturday, taking the state's count of coronavirus cases to 1,29,287.

The active cases in the state now stand at 73,219 while 53,648 people have been discharged.

"5,172 new COVID-19 cases and 98 deaths reported in Karnataka in the last 24 hours, taking total cases to 1,29,287 including 53,648 discharges and 2,412 deaths. 

The number of active cases stands at 73,219," said State Health Department.

So far, a total of 2,412 people have succumbed to the virus in the State.

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News Network
July 3,2020

New Delhi, Jul 3: Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in Karnataka have emerged as a "crucial pillar in the state's success" in combating Covid-19, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

Acknowledging and praising their work, the ministry said they have been actively participating in household surveys in the state, screening inter-state passengers, migrant workers and others in the community for symptoms of the infection,

“Around 42,000 ASHAs have emerged as a crucial pillar in the state's success” in combating Covid-19, the ministry said.

"Recognizing the increased vulnerability of certain population groups to Covid-19, in a one-time survey to identify households with the elderly, persons with co-morbidities, and immune-compromised individuals, about 1.59 crore households were covered," the ministry said in a statement.

ASHAs regularly monitor such high-risk groups in their area with a periodicity of follow-up visits varying from once a day in the containment zones to once every 15 days in other areas, it said.

They also visit the houses of persons complaining influenza-like-illness (ILI) symptoms and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), besides high-risk individuals who have called the state health department helpline numbers, the ministry said.

ASHAs are a part of the Rural Task Force, headed by Panchayat Development Officer (PDO) at the Gram Panchayat level, for addressing public grievances on both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 related services.

ASHAs are trained female community health activists selected from the village itself and accountable to it. They are trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system.

In the urban areas too, they have been at the forefront of dissemination of various awareness activities in fever clinics and swab collection centres in urban areas.

They have also actively screened cases of ILI and SARI in urban areas. They are also part of the screening teams at international and interstate check-posts.

Karnataka has reported 272 Covid-19 deaths and 18,016 cases, according to the health ministry data updated at 8 AM.

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